Suns Strokes: Suns handle Blazers with new starting lineup

Sure, you could read the box score and know who won, but we all know that won’t tell you everything that happened in a basketball game. So, we will give you Suns Strokes, providing you with the analysis, quotes and notes from the Suns’ 114-87 win over the Heat on November 21. Final Score: Suns 114, Blazers 87

The Good:

The Suns ended a season-high three-game losing streak combining their best offensive performance (114 points, second-most of the season; season-high 59.7 percent shooting) with their best defensive performance of the season (opponent season-low tying 87 points; 40.3 opponent field goal percentage, second-lowest of the season) and wound up with a season-high 27-point win.

The Suns new starting lineup finished with a total of 71 points without playing a single minute in the fourth quarter.

The Bad:

Michael Beasley was the lone starter not in double figures. He played a season-low 19 minutes, committing four turnovers. Beasley has turned it over 14 times in the last four games.

Noted:

Goran Dragic finished with three steals, extending his career-best streak of games with multiple steals to seven games. It’s the longest streak by a Suns player since November 1-15, 2007 (9 consecutive, Shawn Marion).

He Said It:

“I learned in the past three days that you’ve got to play the game with a little bit of anger,” Marcin Gortat (22 points, 7 rebounds) said. “I had a little bit of anger inside me and I just tried to prove it and show it that I’m the player capable of scoring inside.”

Up Next:

The Suns (5-7) welcome Robin Lopez and the New Orleans Hornets (3-7) on Friday, November 23.